The Hungarian Competition Authority has launched an investigation into the advertising of food supplements
2026. August 4.The GVH has now launched a new investigation regarding the advertising of food supplements. As part of this recently launched investigation, the GVH is examining whether the advertiser’s general messages attributed curative or therapeutic properties to the food supplement products. The message is clear: it is no longer sufficient merely to ensure that explicit claims comply with the rules. If the presentation and overall effect of the advertisement suggest that a product has curative effects, the advertiser may violate the law.
The dietary supplement sector has long been a focus of the GVH’s attention. Repeated breaches of the rules have prompted the authority to issue guidelines setting out the rules governing the advertising of dietary supplements. The guidance, which is based on Act XLVII of 2008 on Unfair Commercial Practices and Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, sets out three guiding principles:
– It is prohibited to attribute therapeutic effects to foodstuffs. Commercial communications must not state or imply that a product can prevent, treat or cure human diseases.
– Health claims must not refer to the rate or extent of weight loss, must not cite recommendations from healthcare professionals or organisations, and must not suggest that failure to consume the product may be harmful to consumers’ health.
– With a few exceptions, health claims may only be used if they appear on the European Commission’s list of authorised health claims (EFSA).
In addition to these general rules, the Ministry of Health, Social Affairs and Family Affairs’ Decree No. 37/2004. (26 April 2004) on food supplements sets out sector-specific requirements, expressly prohibiting labelling, presentation and advertising that attribute disease-preventing or curative properties to food supplements, or suggest that such properties exist.